‘Avengers’ vs. ‘Amazing Spider-Man’: Marvel Movie Trailer Showdown [Updated]

[UPDATE: We posted this a few weeks back, but with a new full-length Avengers trailer hitting the Web, it’s only fair we give superhero fans a second round of consideration. Let the fanboy debates begin (again)!]

This week has brought us two big superhero movie trailers, with The Avengers Super Bowl trailer sending fans into frenzy, followed by the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer – which has come out of the gate (literally) swinging, and managed to overcome some of the negative opinion that the reboot was initially facing.

In fact, The Amazing Spider-Man has impressed so much that we’ve begun to hear whispers here and there that the Spider-Man trailer did a better job than The Avengers Super Bowl trailer, and ultimately made the Spider-Man reboot look like the better movie.

We know fightin’ words when we hear them, so we thought we’d open up the debate to you, the readers, and let you hash out which Marvel Superhero film looks like the better bet at this point.

Of course, before we can debate anything we have to have a recap of both The Avengers and Amazing Spider-Man trailers, to get an accurate sense of what directors Joss Whedon (Serenity) and Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer) are going for with their respective films.

Oddly enough,  neither Whedon nor Webb is what you’d initially expect in a big-budget superhero movie director; and yet, both of these films look to be successful and exciting interpretations of the comic book source material. But while both have their merits (and, inevitably, their weaknesses), we’re not here to offer universal praise – the question is: Which film looks BETTER to you?

The easy answer is, of course, The Avengers. After all, it’s not just a film, it’s an event – the culmination of years of fan loyalty and Marvel Studios movies. Did you see the rotating shot of of Captain American, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye? How about when Hulk caught a falling Iron Man out of  the air? What can beat that? It’s pure epicness.

Then again, we still know very little about what kind of story The Avengers is going to offer. With a recycled villain in the form of Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and alien hordes possibly landing on Earth’s doorstep… so far, the film seems to be hinging on witty character banter and visual iconography. Beyond that much, we haven’t seen much.

Amazing Spider-Man, on the other hand, seems to be hinging on character and story – but this new trailer proves that it is not lacking in the action department, either. Still, some of the effects (read: The Lizard) aren’t 100% stellar, and the film is going to be a different approach to the character for those moviegoers who didn’t read Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man comics in the early 2000s. That new flavor might not go down well with everyone.

Then again, the richer storyline, more complex characters – brought to life by some gifted performers – and some surprisingly sweet Spider-Man action… Suffice to say, as a standalone film, ASM has potential (not proven, but suggested) to be just as fulfilling a movie experience as The Avengers.

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The Avengers will be in theaters on May 4, 2012.

The Amazing Spider-Man will be in theaters on July 3, 2012.